Preps / High School Sports

Denver East routs Fossil Ridge to claim 5A boys state basketball title

BOULDER — In the 2012-13 season, junior-dominated Denver East was a consensus favorite. Everyone knew it, and no one even bothered to argue. But no one told Eaglecrest, which handled the Angels in the final with a strong dose of comeuppance.

So the Angels returned a year later, a year smarter and a year humbler. And a year better, as they capped the winter sports season Saturday night at the Coors Events Center with a thorough drubbing of previously undefeated Fossil Ridge to claim the Class 5A state basketball title.

It was Denver East's 11th championship in program history, coach Rudy Carey's ninth — he had three with Manual — and the Angels' sixth since 1996.

Brian Carey celebrated at mid court with teammates after the win. The Denver East High School boy's basketball team took the 5A championship game with a 70-49 win over Fossil Ridge Saturday night, March 15, 2014 in Boulder, Colo. (Karl Gehring, The Denver Post)

The Angels finished 24-4, undefeated (19-0) in Colorado and were particularly "focused down the stretch of the season," coach Rudy Carey said.

Carey added that "we had a healthy respect for Fossil Ridge, but these kids delivered. They did what they were supposed to do."

Dominique Collier, the reigning player of the year and the MVP by The Denver Post, who will play his college ball here on the same floor, capped a four-year starting career in style.

"I can't even talk about it right now," a happy Collier said. "I'm just so happy. This feels so good."

Collier was held to two points in the first half but finished with 18 as well as handfuls of assists, steals and drawing the most attention from the Fossil Ridge defense. That enabled Ronnie Harrell, who will play next season at Creighton, to do his all-around thing, as in leading the Angels with 20 points, connecting from outside and helping the rebounding effort that proved decisive. Ultimately, it was only a 31-27 advantage for the Angels, but they did it when it counted most.

Get prepped. Neil H. Devlin and Joe Nguyen blog on the high school sports scene in the Rocky Mountain Empire.

Denver East made its move before halftime, took control in the third quarter and won going away. The SaberCats (27-1), who had surprised most followers in the Denver area, were strong all season, Carey said, but the Angels were their usual effective selves on defense and had a title to deliver.

"Our kids came to do what they had to do," Carey said after the Angels won all their playoff games by double digits.

Lockheed says object part of 'sensor technology' testing that ended ThursdayWhat the heck is that thing? It's fair to assume that question was on the minds of many people who traveled along Colo. 128 south of Boulder this week if they happened to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be a large, silver projectile perched alongside the highway and pointed north toward town.

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